GOP congresswoman: 'Unity' means Biden has to end abortion rights

Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) on Friday added abortion restrictions to the list of policies that Republicans have claimed President Joe Biden must support to live up to his promise of “unity.”

In an interview with the conservative Newsmax TV, Lesko discussed Biden’s executive order to rescind the Mexico City policy enacted by the Trump administration, which restricted funding to international organizations providing family planning, including abortion care.

“Joe Biden pitched to the American people that he wanted unity and to work together with Republicans, but we’ve seen over and over again just how radical he is,” said Lesko.

She went on to complain that “with the stroke of a pen” Biden had enacted a purportedly “radical” policy that restored funding to the organizations in question.

Biden’s order also rescinded the Trump administration rule that blocked health care providers who receive Title X funding from referring patients to abortion providers.

“That means helping Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers,” Lesko told the network, citing it as evidence that Biden and Democrats “do not want to work across the aisle.”

But access to abortion is an overwhelmingly popular policy.

A recent Gallup poll found that 79% of Americans believe that abortion should be legal and available in all or under certain circumstances.

That “echoes the majority public support Gallup consistently finds for upholding Roe v. Wade,” Gallup noted.

In the last few weeks, Republicans have attempted to argue that Biden has to abandon key positions he campaigned on to achieve “unity.” But Biden’s stances on those issues were part of the reason he received over 81 million votes and an Electoral College majority in the election.

Reproductive health was among the key issues Biden campaigned on as part of  the “Biden Agenda for Women,” and he specifically highlighted rescinding the Mexico City policy and undoing the Title X rule.

Republicans have sought to redefine “unity” as support for their pet issues, rather than supporting the issue positions a majority of Americans are in favor of.

From the Jan. 29 edition of Newsmax TV’s “National Report”:

EMMA RECHENBERG, NEWSMAX: If you don’t mind, just sort of tell us about how the executive actions we’ve seen Joe Biden recently go, how they really rather, go against the goals of those who would normally attend the March [for Life]?

 

DEBBIE LESKO: You know, Joe Biden pitched to the American people that he wanted unity and to work together with Republicans, but we’ve seen over and over again just how radical he is.

 

Here he is, promoting abortions once again, let’s face it, that’s killing unborn babies. I mean, I don’t understand the obsession by President Biden and the Democrats that they’re so pro-abortion. What he did with the stroke of a pen is give taxpayer dollars, our U.S. taxpayer dollars, to foreign organizations that perform abortions and also to Title X, which is low-income family planning here in the United States, to refer people for abortions. That means helping Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

 

This just shows how radical their agenda is. They do not want to work across the aisle, they want to push through every radical agenda piece they can in the time that they have control.

 

And I hope the American people see it for what it is.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.